Anthill, you have correctly identified that there is a "dysfunctional market" for pilots. However, I'm not sure the seniority/no-seniority arguments encapsulate the actual problem.
The simple problem is there are many sellers (pilots), and in effect only two major buyers (airlines). This is a
monopsony - the opposite of a monopoly (many buyers, few sellers). This tends to significantly distort the market power to favour the buyers.
The strength of arguments both for and against seniority/brown-nosing models show that whichever model is used, the dominant market power has a range of tools available to significantly distort the market to favour the buyers.
The only way to remedy this is to reduce the number of sellers, either band together as a single union or as a commercial entity (crewing company).